Venue / Time (requested)

Type of event

Townhalls are "networking events" hosted at the European Geosiences Union (EGU) General Assembly (GA) for up to 350 people.

EGU-wording: "Townhall Meetings are meetings open for all participants in the conference at which new initiatives or decisions are announced to a larger audience following an open discussion on the matter raised."

Townhalls are hosted in the evening following the conclusion of all scientific tracks. The events last one hour and usually have presentations / announcements taking up the first 20 minutes, to allow for an open discussion among the attendees. During this phase, refreshments are provided to ensure a lively and convivial atmosphere.

Expected Audience Size

50 - 80 people (optimistic guestimate from 2017 attendance numbers, we got less in 2018 dur to competing events)

Audience: Topical Background

Free Open Source Software from OSGeo projects affects most if not all EGU Divisions.
Currently FOSS (OSGeo projects + R, GMT, etc.) is particularly strong in the Hydrology, Atmospheric Sciences, Earth and Space Sience Informatics and Tectonics Divisions.

Attendees are expected from the following fields (Academia, Research and Industry).

Audience: Professional Level

Venue

Townhall location: The townhall will be hosted in a dedicated lecture hall on the conference premises. Room capacity: Most likely up to 100 people.

Preliminary date and time: TBD , 19:00 - 20:00 hours.

Relevance for OSGeo (Draft)

how will our participation help OSGeo

Continuation and expansion of the "topical bridgehead" established within EGU by the first two OSGeo Townhalls in 2014 and 2015.

Raise awareness at and reach-out to the European geoscience community by hosting a dedicated public OSGeo event at the largest European geoscience conference.

Reach out to young scientists starting their careers.

Meeting place for people already active in OSGeo ("meta-BoF") as a large number of people congregates every year at the EGU GA.

Reach out to decision makers/elders/scientific activists within the EGU Divisions.

Culmination of the "FOSS day" at the EGU GA: The organizers are urged to to schedule all FOSS / OSGeo - related events on the same day. This will ensure we have a large audience and niceties such as "FOSS flashmobs" can be arranged for poster sessions. The "FOSS day" could and should be finished off with the OSGeo townhall, as a "multiplier/bring them all together" event.

Opportunities for 2019

The ESSI division is changing its overall approach. OSGeo should play a prominent role in the discussions.

OSGeo could sponsor a dedicated session in ESSI or cross-division.

OSGeo could sponsor a price / (lunch-)event /session for early career scientists

EGU intends to introduce a "data helpdesk" in 2019 or later, similar to the one introduced by AGU in 2017: OSGeo folks could participate by giving advice on particular software tools ("Ask a guru") - this would provide much more flexibility than normal EGU workshops, since it would be driven by real world questions of the attendees.